Coconut and Other Palm Use in Mexico and the Philippines*

20 PRINCIPES [VoL.28

Princtpes,28(1),1984, pp. 20 30

Coconutand Other Palm Use in Mexico and the Philippines*

Pesro GuzN{AN-Rrvas

The Spanish Galleons which sailed has exploited an abundantly distributed between Manila and Acaoulco from 1565 group of palms, a samplingof which fol- to l8l5 brought to Mexico merchandise lows:(l) and a limited number of Filipino settlers. Areca caliso Becc.-alcohol; ingre- In the Philippines, certain aspects of dtent for ihm6. material culture involving palms, espe- Areca catechz L.-ingredient for ikm5 cially the coconut, rest in a high degree (or buyo); black and red dyes; edible buds; of dependence of native economies on sheathing leaves for mats, hats, slippers, palms for many needs, ranging from etc.; source of tannin; vermifuge. essential foods to raw materials for man- Areca ipot Becc.-ingredient of buyo; ufacture and household industries. This also an ornamental. dependence is a trait which one would log- Arenga ambong Becc.-for its edible ically expect the Filipino immigrant to the buds. coastlands of southwest Mexico to have Arenga pinnata (Wurmb.) Merr.-the brought with him and to have transmitted well-known k,dong; vinegar, sugar, starch; to local peoples. edible seeds and buds; soft fiber (baro); bnrshes, brooms, alcohol, tubd. FilipinoUse of Palms Arenga tremula (Blanco) Becc.-baskets. alcohol. ta6ri. A basic group of less than two dozen Calamus spp.-rattans: bent-wood, speciesof palms provide the natives of the stick-reed, cane-chairs, and furniture; food Philippines with foods and materials for and water; structural material; cordage. diverse requirements of the local econ- Caryota cumingii Lodd. ex Mart.- omy: alcohol, bags, baskets, brooms, the anibong fish-tail palms, sources for brushes, buttons, charcoal, caulking, alcohol, barolt frber, starches, structural chairs, dyes, fertilizers, fibers, furniture, 'raincoats, materrals, tubd. fuel, hats, mats, ornaments, Cocos nucifera L.-niig, for baskets, rattans, slippers, starches, structural brooms, brushes, coir fiber, charcoal, fer- materials, sugars, tannin, thatching, vin- tilizer, food, oil, fuel, utensils, thatching, egars, and wines. Traditionally, the native structural material, vinegar, and wine. Corypha elata Roxb.-alcohol, bags, * This paper represents an edited version of chap- "Geographic baskets, beads, brooms, buri and bunta,l ter three of the study influences of the Galleon trade on New Spain," Reuista Geogrd.Jica fibers, foods, mats, slippers, starches, sug- (Mexico) 53: 5 81, 1960. It is reprinted with the ars, thatching, vinegar, tubd.. permission of the Instituto Pan-Americano de Geo- Daernonorops spp. rattans. grafia e Historia. Cenera and species have been cor- Heterospathe elata Scheff. buyo rected to conform to currently accepted names. The ingredient, food, pith-helmets. quotations in Spanish, German, and French irrcluded in the original have been translated into English. Liuistona. rotundifulia (Lam.) Mart.- Dennis Johnson, Field Editor. (and.ha.u,palma braua), structural mate- 21 l 9B4l GUZMAN.RIVAS:PALM USEIN MEXICO

some rials, troughs and flues, poles, flooring, ing is a sampling of palms of food, thatching, palm-leaf raincoats. nomic value in southwest Mexico: Liuistona saribus (Lour.) Merr. Sabal mexicana Mart.-Palma brooms. redonda of Michoac6n and Guerrero; Metroxylon sa6'u Rottb.-alcohol' paLma reaL or de micheros, used as fruits fiber, food, mats, starches, thatching, thatching or for chair seats; edible structural materials, lri.bd. (micheros). Washingtonia robusta H. A. Wendl. Ittypa fruticans Wurmb.-alcohol, pctlmct bags, brooms, fibers, edible seeds, pith- palma blanca, palma colorada, (Lind.) helmets, mats, palm-leaf raincoats, sug- negra; and, Washingtonia flifera cultivated, ars, thatching (perh,apsthe most resistant H. A. Wendl. are commonly bas- to the elements), vinegar, fubd. with some importance for thatching, Phoenix Loureirii Kunth.-palm-leaf kets, cordage, food. (H.B.K.) Bl.- raincoat. Cryosophila nana of Veitchia merrillii (Becc.) Moore the palma de escr,tba,or soYamiche so-called buiga de china or bufiga de Michoac6n and Cuerrero. Brahea clulcis H.B.K.-structural iol6, often employed as a substitute for Areca catechlt in the preparation oI ikm5, material, thatching, food. the universal Filipino masticatory consist- Brahea spp.-palma blancct, Pa.lma and ing of betel pepper' lime and areca nut. negra, paLma de Tlaco; edible pulp The wide availability of these and many buds. other species of palms in limestone for- Phoenix da.ctylifera L.-widely culti- the mations, dense humid woods in mountain vated. It is interesting to note that slopes.in secondaryforesl'- sylvan areas- term ddtil is given to Muntingia cala- along tidal streams, and in fresh and buraL. and more often, in northern Mex- the brackish-water swamps provided native ico, lo Yuccn. spp. Howevet, dd'til in of Phoe- settlements with products sufficient to sup- Philippines is applied to the fruit port town industries. Outstanding, by far, nix, and appears in native flialects every- in the historicaland economicgeography where as such or in phonetic variants of many Philippine areas are l'{yPo, (ld.tires, rdtiles, etc.). (Lind. Arenga, Calamus, Corypha, and Areca. CaLyp tr ogyne ghie sbr eghtiana The primacy among palms everywhere, & H. A. Wendl.) H. A. Wendl.-thatch- from coastal areas to inland elevations uP ing. ro 4,500 feet. belong. to lhe coconut Chamaedorea tepejilctte Liebm. ex palm.'') Mart.-edible spathes. Orbignya cohune (Mart.) Dahlgr. ex MexicanUtilization of Palms Standley Acrocomia, mexicana Karw. ex contrast, the palm family in In sharp Mart.-coyol, edible; also an intoxicating is represented rather poorly by a \lerico liquor. small number of economic relatively Bactris spp. The family is better represenled species. In considering the list just given and economic flora of central and south- in the that for the economically useful palms of America. Apart from the introduced ern the Philippines, some points are to be the most valued individ- Cocos nucifera noted: ualsof Palmaerestricled to the soulhwesl Mexican coastlands are some members of I. Brahea dulcis is comParable to the genera Sabal, CryosophiLa, Brahea, Corypha elata of the Philippines in eco- Orbignya and. Acrocomirz.(tt)The follow- nomic value. The Mexican species is found PRINCIPES [Vor. 28 from Nuevo Le6n and Sinaloa in the north a culture complex based on the coconut to Oaxaca in the south, and is known in palm antedated the European in the Michoac6n and Guerrero as cocoiste, southeast Asiatic tropics. In the Pacific palma dulce, pa.lma de sombrero, palma tropics of the New World the coconut palm soyal, etc. It is also often used as struc- was to be found in at least the coastlands tural material, thatching and food. In spite from Panama to Colombia around the of a wide geographical distribution, its use- 1520s. Quite interestingly, it appears from fulness is known but not exploited. Bruman's researches that the coconut was 2. Cocos nucifera (known generally not introduced in southwest Mexico until only in the coco-series,such as cocotero, 1539 (probably in Colima).(s)The date is palma de coco, coco de agual, coco sienificant because it shows the relative decastillo, etc.) is cited by Standley as ,r"*rr"r, of the coconut palm grove as an being put to many uses in Mexico (struc- element of the landscape and the native tural material, rafts, thatching, tub6, food, economy in southwest Mexico at the time milk, vinegar, containers, etc.) approxi- of the entry of Spain in the Philippines in mately the same uses as those obtainable 1565. The early historical evidence from Orbignya cohune. However, as far reviewed by Bruman attesting to the pres- as one was able to observe in the tierra ence of the coconut palm in the New caliente of the sot.rthwestcoast, most of World shows the lack of any definite cul- the recorded uses for coconut could not ture complex associated with it locally, be verified. Apart from the exploitation of apart from the consumption of its nut. It the copra, other utilization was sporadic may explain why rnembers of L6pez de or non-existent. Legazpi's expeditionary staff, who could 3. It is evident that there is almost no be assumed to have had fair knowledge of correspondence between the Palmae of the native economies in at least sections Mexico and those of the Philippines. A of the southwest coast of Mexico, do not vexing puzzle is why Arengn, Nypa., Cor- appear to have been familiar nor cogni- ypha, and. Calarnus were not introduced zanr of the uses of the palm. Their in southwest Mexico, in the valley of encounter in the Visayas islands with the Tecom6n, in San Blas and Manzanillo, and versatile exploitation of the palm was in the lowlands of the Balsas and in Guer- apparently quite a revelation to them. rero, in spite of a long history of contact, Forty years after the probable date of through trade and migration, between the introduction into Colima, the coconut palm Pacific coastlands of Mexico and the Phil- groves do not appear as yet to have any ippines. strong impact on the economic geography of southwest Mexico. It is definitely known were abundant in Colima in The GoconutPalm that coconuts 1587, but curiously enough, some rela- The Coconutin the SouthwestMexi- ciones geogr6,f,cas torching on the coast- can Coastlands. The problem involving lands either make no mention of coconuts the center of origin of the coconut palm or mention them only incidentally. The "Relaci6n whether in the Old World regions such as de lTancitaro", for example, Indonesia and Malaysia, following de Can- goes into details about the productiveness dolle, oi in New World tropical coasts as of rhe tierra caliente and the commerce proposed by Cook-is a problem that in tropical fruits. without mentioning the "is enters only remotely in considering the coconut at all. Colima Spanish with role of the coconut palm in transplanting more then forty households these significant elements of southeast Asian Spaniards make a living from growing culture in Mexico.(a)It is quite certain that cacao trees and livestock raisinq . . . also l 984l GUZMAN.RIVAS:PALM USEIN MEXICO they plant large amounts of maize and extracted, viz. by bruising and cutting into cotton: they cannot cultivate either wheat the inflorescences.The pith of Acrocomia or barley because of being in rhe tierra and Scheelea was macerated.(e) caLiente. Colima is situated between seven Tubd.,as a fermented beverage and also and eight leagues from the ocean. Sailing as a brandy, was introduced to the Span' by and visible from land are ships that iards on the occasion of Magellan's entry come and go from China and some put in in the eastern central Visayan islands of for provisions on that coast."(o) There is the Philippines in 1521, almost simulta- no mention of the coconut palm. neously with the campaigns of conquest Tub6. Although the galleons were not in the highlands of Mexico. The welcome the means through vfhich Coco.snucifera given to Magellan and his men was in the was introduced into the southwest coast of best Filipino traditions of hospitality. The Mexico, they were instrumental in bring- festive board placed before the Spaniards ing Filipinos to the area who acquainted featured, among a host of items, some natives and Spaniards alike with the eco- strips of sago palm sauteed in oil, birds, nomic ootential of the coconut.(t) The fruits, and a liquor which was said to flow Mexicans could have had, of course, no from the branches of the palm trees.(r')) better masters. It is well known that the The palm trees would not necessarily refer use of the palm by Filipinos is almost a lo the coconut palm bul to any one of complete one and. in many i"egions.con- several species as well which also yield a stitutes an integral part of the total local sap that is generically called, tubd, e.9., economy. As a German traveler expressed Caryota cumingii, Corypha ela,ta, "Where it: the coconut palm thrives, the Arenga pinnata, Arenga trernula, lYypa people not only use it as a source of food fruticans, and at one time but out of favor, and drink, but also use the wood and leaves also from Metroxylon sagu.\tt) for making their hats, tools, furniture, etc. It is significant to note that the accounts On the beach in the poorest type of soil dealing with L6pez de Legazpi's first and without human assistance high yields months of reconnaisance in the Visayas are obtained. However, inland it is only islands in i565 show an apparent lack of with great effort that the palm will pro- acquaintance of the Spaniard wtth tubd. duce much fruit."(8) Est6van Rodriguez, relating a trip made When Asiatics first scattered them- to Bingl6s island (present Negros Island) "'We selves in native settlements in the tierra to survey coastlands, reports: t'uliente, one really familiar and nostalgic encountered an old native man and landscape that must have caught t[eir eye woman, along with a boy; when they saw las that of coconut groves. It would not us coming they were astonished. We told have taken the migrant long to see how them they had nothing to fear, that we the palm was being utilized, and to realize had not come to do them any harm, and that he had much to contribute to the that we were friends. Once they were N,lexican Indian's knowledge of the value assuredof our jnlentions. lhey gare us of the coconut. However, the use of the plantains and wine of the coconut palm sap of palms was not altogether unknown which was good and resembled a spurious in Middle America. Use was made of the sweet wine."(t2) sap of Acrocomia spp. and Scheelen The appreciation for the brandy was butyracea, a pattern limited to central instantaneous, so to speak. For the return American regions. The juice was not trip of the nao capitctna. among prori- obtained from the palms in the same man- sions secured was an eight month's supply ner that the sap of the coconut (as well as of what was probably palm brandy. Alfonso of the Aypa and Corypha palms) is de Arellano claims that in Mindanao island 24 PRINCIPES [Vor. 28 the natives welcome them with consider- serum for many ills and infirmities, which "They able amounts of palm wine. brought is called whey, as it looks much like that out large, thick bamboo stem segments of milk. It is there called,tubd. They make frlled with wine and offered some to us, honey from this tree; also oakum with but before we could drink one of them which to caulk the ships, which lasts in took some to show that it was good and the water, when that from here would rot. not ooisoned. we then shared drinks with Likewise they make rigging, which they them. The wine was sweet and tasted call cayro; and they make an excellent somewhat like gin; its color resembled cin- match for arquebuses, which, without any namon water, which they probably add to other attention, is never extinguished. The give it the color it has."(I3) shoots resemble wild artichokes, while they The Spaniards gave free rein to their are tender."(l;) thirst to the degree that disciplinary mea- It is not definitely known just when the sures had to be taken to ensure right con- tubd.-indrstry began to be actively duct in the affairs of the infant settlement exploited in the coconut groves of Colima in Cebu, and an understanding entered and elsewhere in the southwest coastal set- into between local chieftans and L6pez de tlements under the guidance of Filipinos. LegazPi.it+) The technique could not have taken long After the stress and strain of pacifica- to disseminate among the natives. There tion was almost over around the 1570s, would be needed only patience to train the and friendlier contact had been achieved inflorescences downwards, bruise and cut between Spanish and native communilies them, and collect the flowing sap daily. It in central Luzon valley, in southeastern seems that the traditional manner of pro- Luzon and in the coastlands of Ilocos, ducing tubd was adopted by the colimen- native drinks became better known and ses and used for centuries without modi- appreciated. Testimonies of Loarca, Rios fitations, since a visitor to the area in the y Coronel and Chirino unfailingly mention l830s describes the technique such as it "To palm-wine with expressions of wonder at was always used in Filipino areas: the uses of the coconut. Loarca reports obtain this liquid, one hollows a cavity at "one that Indian can in one forenoon the top of the trunk where the sap of the obtain two arrobas of the sap from the tree will collect. It is first of all a sweet palm-trees that he cultivates, that is made liquid of agreeable flavor, but after a few into brandy, vinegar, and delicious hours of fermentation it acquires a wine- honey."irsr Chirino acutely observes that like taste and gives off carbon dioxide in "the palms, of which there aro many and large quantities."(r8) varied species, are the vineyards and olive- One might presume that the appeal of yards of that country," and so much wine, the tubd, came when natives learned to vinegar, and oil are produced that these use the sap to produce the famous arrak "given commodities are exported to other south- intoxicant. To the natives, to east Asiatic areas.(t6)Expressing the same drunkenness" according to the Spaniards, undercurrent of wonder at the versatility the arrak was a comforting drink that "From of the palms, Rios y Coronel writes: rapidly spread in all the communities. The this tree they obtain wine, which is the officials expressed alarm when the sales of common beverage of that country; strong tubd.-|xandy displaced current Castilian vinegar, which is good for the table; and wines from the market. The government milk like that of almonds, to serve with stepped in to regulate the new industry in rice, and which curdles like real milk. Colima. An ordinance of 167 I brought to When it is soft the fruit is like green hazel light by Bruman containssome interesling nuts in taste, and better; and there is a facets of the historical geography of tubd r9B4l GUZMAN-RIVAS:PALM USEIN MEXICO

been largely induced by the fabrication in Colima.('e)In that year the might have the situation. Tub6, produc- residents of Colima were requesting the economies of at the heart of the trade in authorities in Mexico City to favor their tion struck The latter were a source community with an extension of a license Spanish wines. returns and constiluted a to produce tubd which, in their opinion, for substantial unencumbered source of was not an ordinary drink to be classified straightfontard. with other intoxicants. The statement in revenue. tubd continued to be support of the request was so cleverly In the l930s in Colima but the signifi- *ord"d that it made the potent tubd'- manufactured in view of the broad- brandy appear as innocuous as orange cance of it declined and diversified activities of the region' iuice. ened were being exploited From the text of the ordinance it The coconut groves Colima City at the time had appears that the cacao plantations pro- for the copra. of 15,000; another 25'000 vid-ed until 1626 the modus uiuendi of a population in small villages within areas the Spaniards and natives of Colima' A were living farming. Fossey, in I B3l, cyclone that year caused widespread ruin of intensive to be a veritable paradise oi the plantations. In order to alleviate the found the city and orchards and an outstand- subsequent economic dislocation in the of flowers for agriculture. region, the Spaniards and the natives ing center present time tub6' is almost tuined to a large-scale production of tubd At the forgotten in Ihe tierra cal' for which they were licensed for a period neglected and Mexico excePt in a few of ten years. The license was renewed upon iente of southwest there still are individuals ."qrr"ti several times thereafter: 1637, towns where rcqq,1,052,1664,and in 1668'On the engaged in its manufacture. The people recognize the Ietm tubd', occasion of renewal requested in 1637, of ihe coastlands is found only occasionally the petitioners emphasized the medicinal but the toddy Very few informants in the properties of tubd and its non-intoxicating in small shops. "medicinal could give the writer a spe- character, and by no means coastal villages o[ tubd or the manner of noxious," after a study of the matter made cific description The technique appears to by a commit,"".tzor Justifications for sub- its extraction. among a few peddlers in Col- sequent requests for extension of the survive only of Coahuayana. Tubd' license varied; in 1653' it was a ruinous ima and in the town in some places in the states fire which consumed Colima and forced is also known and Cuerrero. her residents to leave town; in 1668, seis- of Veracruz oJ'Coconut Utilization mic disturbances created havoc in the area Present Status Fteld work in 1956 and it was explained further that the state in the Coastlands. the entire length of the benefited from taxes imPosed on the took the writer Manzanillo to the low- industry and was also the support of chap- coastlands from and to the villages and laincies.(2r) lands of the Balsas, Ortega, Coahuayana, The rapid spread of the tubi-industry ranchos of Cerro de El Ticuiz, El Ran- is confirmed by Pineda's report (1618- El Cerrito, San Vicente, Lima, La Placita, 20) where he sPeaks of wine-casks chito, San Juan de "so Ticla, Ostula, P6maro, mounted on burros and mules, great Aquila, Maquili, La Cuilala, Tizu- is the traffic . . . on the coast at Navidad Coire, Caleta de Campos, Tiol6n, Mexcalhu- . . . and throughout Colima that they load oan. La Manzanilla, PlaYa Azul, and beasts of burden with this wine as tn ac6n, Chuta, Las Pefras, (Fig. I Persons Spain."i::r In spite of the apparent_con- Melchor Ocampo ). villages' many of them ce.n of sincere officials for the health of encountered in the were familiar with the natives, the injunction against tubd' old men and women, PRINCIPES lVoL. 2B

SOUTHWESTCOAST OF MEXICO. STRIBUTIONOF THE COCONUTPALM vl eeuv cnoves rr'f, BREcHA

o 2 I 0 EMt.

BASe MAP ADAPTEDFROM BMNqCoASTA- STUrt'1954 r 9841 GUZMAN-RIVAS:PALM USEIN MEXICO

was no- tubdbtl did not know of any place where ing, a far more efficient land-use, occasional it was regularly extracted. This was quite ticeably absent. except for sale of tubd remarkable in an area where the land- banana patches. A very small no cottage scape was dominated by coconut groves. was seen in town, but there are palms. Actually, few palm groves seen along the industriesbased on the coconut are extensive coast and strand of southwest Mexico were El Cerrito: the groves but economically significant, evidently because under ejido (collective)management. brush. In of barriers of transportation. Coconut badly tended and overrun with stands, large and small, some wild and 1956, the groves showed moisture-defi- in five I untended (probably escapes),are found at ciency and nuts were scanty even are the following points along the coast (Fig. and six-year old trees. Some stands age. The I l). older, perhaps 12 to 15 years in Laguna de Cuyutlan: on sand and sandy ejido is concerned only with copra. The when loam between dunes and the lagoon are 1955 floods ruined some areas collapsed, extensive plantings of coconut palms. In unconsolidated river banks The the middle section of the northern shore tearing chunks out of the groves. "diamond" of of the Laguna is an alluvial plain covered classical Filipino pattern effi- with one of the densest forest of cayaco planting, considered to be the most any- nalms in the Pacific coast.(23) cient land-use was not to be seen Real de San Pantale6n to Boca de Pas- where. in cuales: extensive plantations behind a steep El Ticuiz: fairly extensive plantings According to tidal beach and high dunes.('t) and around the village. yield Tecom6n: some eight miles southwest informants, l5-year old groves lree. and are of the plaza in the margin of coconut plan- approximately100 nuts per Trees 60 tations against the dunes of a former bar- collected in May and December. giving rier beach.(25) to 75 years of age are said to be Cerro de Ortega-Tecom6n: about six fruit. Local varielies were denominaled giving miles inland; now being cleared for field nayarit and, ticuizeiio, the former croos and orchards; in 1950 the area was a sharply ovoid nut' the latter a larger, called corrlred with thorny scrub vegetation.(tu) meatier one. Small young nuts were medict carne- Tecom6n Beach: two small Plantings r-oouitos,semi-malure ones five miles northwest of the Boca de Apiza. u.rd those fully developed,for copra, aguct Boca de Apiza: there is an extensrve suelta. Copra is sun-dried for a week; there reclamation of the coastal area; exten- are very limited facilities for kiln-drying. (south side): sively planted to coconuts, but the groves Punta San Juan de Lima l reflect poor edaphic conditions. In 1950 new coconut plantings, still not producing, some a prospering grove was to be found in a on stretches of sand and sandy loams leaves I sand and silt peninsulabetween the ocean 300 yards from the beach. Coconut onrhe and a brackish lagoon. By 1957' marine were used everywhere for ramadcts action had decimated the grove and only beach and for temporary beach shelters bath- three palms remain.(2;i occupied by stores, restaurants, and Coahuayana: the coconut groves are rn nouses. in very poor condition. The copra that is La Placita:extensive mature groves processed comes from very small nuts with and around the village, but very sporadic lhe icant meat. Here, however, we find one utilization. Plantings are dominant in Maquili, of the most aclive centersof copra pro- area around the mouth of the Rio cessing in the coast, evidently favored by close to a lagoon. Groves are also to be to La a seasonallyreliable brecha through which seen alons the trail from La Placita the copra can be moved out. Interplant- Ticla. 28 PRINCIPES [Vor-.28

Ostula river delta: the right bank is Rio Chuta: the Chuta lowlands; groves known as Palmar. also border the river up- and down-stream. Estampilla: a handful of palm trees. Rio Popoyuta: groves on both banks, La Mahajuita: a very small stand. and up-stream. Rio Motin: site of extensive stands of Playa Grande: extensive coconut stands coconuts dating back to the sixteenth cen- from west end (La Pefras). tury, but devastated by floods in 1932. In Rio Chucuitit6n: coconuts are found 1950, ten palms remained, and only seven along the west arm of the river which par- by l956.izat allels the beach for 1,500 yards. An Arroyo de Ximapa: a small stand. extensive lagoon is bordered by coconut Lower Arroyo de Colola: well-drained palms. soils and good water has started a small El Habillal-Playa Azul: scattered, movement of settlers into the area. dense stands. Boca de Cach6n: coconut palm stands Melchor Ocampo and Zacatula: various are found on both east and west ends of areas of coconut plantations in the low- the delta. Some of the groves are inter- lands of the Balsas River are harvested olanted with maize. regularly. Stands are from 3 to 15 years Chocola: dense and compact groves. of age. Utilization is limited to the pro- Huahua: coconuts growing on the left duction of copra. bank as well as at the west end of the Eualuation of Filipino Influences. The delta. Filioinos who settled in southwest Mexico Tupitina to Arroyo del Bejuco and the and introduced tubd and, possibly, other Nexpa: extensive plantings. Connections aspects of utilization of the coconut palm, by land and air have stimulated resettle- were probably natives of the coconut-pro- ment of areas near Boca del Tanque, Tup- ducing Philippine regions. Shipbuilding was itina, Mexiquillo, etc. and the cultivation l6cated in areas with well developed coco- of coconuts. Some humid areas between nut groves. Since the crews for the gal- the Arroyo del Morro and Boca Chica have leons were recruited from laborers serving been planted to coconuts only since 1950 the shipyards, the sailors who jumped boat 5 I .r2o) in Acapulco were assuredly men very con- Caleta de Campos: west beach to the versant with the uses of the coconut palm. Lomas de Campos. What, one might ask, was the magnitude Bocas Cuatas to Arroyo de las Salinas: of their influence in, say Colima, Michoa- coconut plantations dominate the land- c6n, Jalisco, and Guerrero as regards the scape, extending through Miramar to the use of coconuts other than the extraction Arroyo de los Morritos. of tubd? Is there any verifiable corre' Tiol6n: groves border the swamps in snondence between the utilization of the the area. clconut in southeast Asia and its utiliza- La Majahuita-Arroyo del Carrizalito: tion in the Pacific coastlands of Mexico? very recent plantings.. Such a correspondence would not, of "Here Mexcalhuac6n: also was one of course, argue conclusively to Filipino the earliest plantings of coconuts on the influence, since minor uses for the palm Michoac6n coast, and to this day the could have been developed independently coconuts of Mexcalhuac6n are famous for by the Mexican native. An inquiry into their quality although there are fewer than the pattern of utilization in southwest one hundred trees in Mexcalhuac5n Mexico brings out some striking facts: of southwest Mexico ProPer."(30) l. Even in areas Chuquiapa: west end of the shingle and with fairly extensive coconut plantations sand beach. there was apparently little involvement 29 I 9B4l GUZMAN-RIVAS:PALM USEIN MEXICO with the palm in the culture of the vil- 7. There was no known instance in the craft lagers. MLst of those questioned thought coastlands of Mexico of a household one coconutwas like everl olher coconul or local industry based on raw materials and and knew no differences in kernel char- from the coconut palm. Retail stores acteristics, yields, uses, and values. In notion counters carried no dolls, gewgaws' made out conIrasl, close and familiar contact of utensils, containers, combs, etc. nut. southeaslAsiatics with the coconut palm of the husks and the hard shell of the has created in lhem a consciousnesso[' differences between varieties and quali- I Noms ties. The native in coconut-producing areas will distinguish mariy varieties: those heavy l. WilliamH. Brown,Useful Plants of the Philip- in oil. a palm low in stature, which can be pines, Technical Bulletin 10, (Ballarat and NIel- -339. harvested from ground level, dwarf nuts bourne, 1950) I, 207 la Isla, Relacion de las Islas del Pon- used for ornamental objects, freak sterile 2. Juan de iente y del carnino que a ella se hizo desde la with soft endosperm and excel- nuts, nuts N.a. Espana, Colecci6n de documentos in6ditos lent for copra, sweet-husked nuts, deco- relativos al descubrimiento, conquisa, v organi- rative palamcotta, very fibrous nuts, hard- zaci6n de las antiguas posesiones espafiolas de (II. las Isla Fili- shellednuls, the almost black nuts- and Ultramar, 2.a serie, tomo 3 de pinas), (Madrid, IB87), 226-2+3. oale-brown nuts. The southwest Mexican 3. Paul C. Standley, Trees and Shrubs of Nlexico, native apparently knows only elementary Contributions from the United States National differences ascribed 1o regions. such as Herbarium, Vol. XXIII (Washirrgton, 1920 26)' Lteracrtrzan, michoacdn, nayarit, ticu' 70. Some representatives of the Sabal and to the Philippines after izeiio, and the mexcalhuactn as the larg- .lttalea were introduced I905. (Brorvn,op. cit.,I.2l2) with the most liquor. est, sweetest, 4. A. de Candolle, L'Origine des Plantes Cultiv6es, 2. Food uses were known in a small (Paris, lBB3): O. F. Cook, The Origin and Dis- part, such as the use of stem-tips and buds I tribution of the Coconut Palm in America, Con- Her- for salads.coconut milk for soupsand por- tributions from the United States National barium, VII, 2 (Washington' 1901). 257 293; ridges. shredded coconut meat for gar- ld., History of the Coconut Palm in Anrerica, nishing. Not even once, from Manzanillo t6rd.,.XIV (Washington, 1910)' 271-342' (loconuls to Melchor Ocampo, did the writer see the 5. Henry J. Bruman, A Further Note on coconut actually used as a food or com- in Colima, Hispanic Arnerican Historical Revierv, No. 3 (Durham, 1947).572-513' Donent of the diet. Vol. XXVII, 6. Relaci6n de Tancitaro (Arimao y Tepalcatepec), non-viable freak nut 3. The sterile, Edici6n y Notas por Ignacio Bernal, Tlalocan' ("macapuno"), considered and prized as a III, 3 (Mexico, 1952), 2I2' 2I7 2IB. delicacl in the Philippines.r'ras.unknor'rn ?. Henry J. Bruman, Some Observations on the World, in the western Mexican coastlands. Mar- Early History of the Coconut in the Nerv Acta Americana, Vol. II' No. 3 (Washington, ket vendors had never heard of it' Ig44\,22O 243. Bruman conjectures that by of coir "a 4. The processing and utilization 1587, modest industry engaged in mahing fiber was unknown in the copra producing drinking vessels out of coconut shells for export areas of southwest Mexico; husks, as far to Spain rvas already in existence irr Colima" (228). as the writer could see, were allowed to B. F. Jagor,Reisen in den Philippinen,(Berlin, in some caseswere used stand and rot, but 1873)34. for fuel or as re-enforcement for pole-and- 9. Cook,Origin and Distribution, op. cit., 287. mud walls. 10. Unless one were familiar with the technique' it 5. No actual (or traditional) use of the does appear as though the sap were flowing from the branches. U coconuI for folk medicine was noted. I I. The technique of extraction is essentially the fronds was 6. Thatching with coconut same in each case: inflorescences are bruised used in temporary sheds; the petioles were for several weeks to stimulate sap-florv. Sap is often seen in use as fencing material. gathered often for as long as two months. Yields 30 PRINCIPES [Vor. 28

Historical are of the order of 2-20 quarts a day, depend- Western Mexico, Hispanic American 223. ing on many factors. Review, Vol. XXV (Durham, 1945)' 2I2 tubd is pre' 12. Est6van Rodriguez, Relacion muy circunstan- 20. In many areas of the Philippines for ciada de la navegacion que hizo el Armada de sumed to have curative properties, especially S.M. a cargo del General Miguel L6pez de tubercular individuals. Legazpi, Colecci6n de documentos in6ditos ... 2r. Ordinance of 1671, in Bruman, Early Coconut Ultramar, op. cit., (II de las Islas Filipinas), Culture, op. cit.,2211 223. 373 427. 22. Captain Sebastiin de Pineda, Relacion hecha 13. Alfonso de Arellano, Relacion mui singular y por . en cosas tocantes a las yslas filipinas circunstanciadahecha por . . . capitandel patax ansi de fabricar de galeones y pataches y galeras San Lucas del Armada de Ceneral Miguel L6pes y otros pertrechos como de cosas tocantes a la de Legazpi,ibid. l-76, esp.3l 32. gr*du y conservacion de las dichas yslas, Mex- t4. Ibid.,110-III. ico, 1619, BR, XVIII, lB4 185. 15. Miguel de Loarca, Relacionde las Yslas Filipi ,? Donald D. Brand, Coastal Study of Southwest- nas, Ar6valo (June, 1582), BR, V, 169. ern Mexico, II, The University of Texas (Austin, 16. Pedro Chirino, S. I. Relacionde las Islas Fili- Texas, l95B), ll4. pinas, i de lo que en ellas antrabaiadolos padres Ibid.,rl. de la Compafriade Jesus,(Rome, 1604) ap. BR, 25. Ibid.,rro. XIII, i89. 26. Ibid., r09. 17. Hernandode Los Rios y Coronel,Reforms, BR, 27. Ibid.,3. XVIII, 283. 28. Ibid., 45. 18. Mathieu de Fossey,Le Mexique(Paris, 1857), 29. Ibid.,75, 76. 404. 30. Ibid.,90. 19. Henry J. Bruman, Early Coconut Culture in

The Biennial 1984 Those planning to atGnd the Northern California Biennial Meeting, August 2-9, should write for details to: DAVID SYL- YlA,, 36279 Christine St., Newark, CA 94560. @r5) 794-7297 Those going on the Post-Biennial Excursion to Australia should write: J. GARRIN FULLERTON, 3017 MaY Road, Richmond,CA 94803. (415) 222'2516